Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill into law Wednesday codifying his controversial executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of school mask mandates.
The new law likely spells the end of the commonwealth’s mask wars, which have pitted school districts that refused to lift mandates against parents who had sought to take advantage of an executive order Youngkin had signed on his first day in office allowing them to opt their children out of school mask mandates.
The executive order had sparked a flurry of lawsuits from school districts and parents. A state judge in Arlington had issued a temporary restraining order against the executive order, ruling in favor of seven school districts that had sought to block it.
YOUNGKIN AND CONSERVATIVES CLAIM VINDICATION AS DEMOCRATS BACK OFF MASK MANDATES
In another case, the Virginia Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit by a group of parents who had challenged the order. Meanwhile, several other parent groups throughout the commonwealth had sued their respective school districts for failing to follow the order.
Challengers to the order had argued that it violated a state law requiring school districts to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines in order to reopen safely.
The newly signed law passed both houses of the state Legislature in recent days. In the state Senate, a handful of Democrats joined with Republicans to pass the bill, while the vote in the House of Delegates was strictly party-line.
In a tweet Monday after the bill had passed both houses, Youngkin said he was “pleased that there is widespread and bipartisan support in Virginia for a parental opt-out of mask mandates in schools.”
“Today, the General Assembly took a significant step for parents and children,” the governor said in his tweet.
I am pleased that there is widespread and bipartisan support in Virginia for a parental opt-out of mask mandates in schools. Today, the General Assembly took a significant step for parents and children.
— Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) February 14, 2022
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Newly enacted legislation in Virginia usually does not take effect until the summer following the legislative session, but the new law will take effect March 1, after Youngkin added an emergency enactment clause to the bill that was subsequently approved by the Legislature.
